Distant Hearts
by animeobsessed001
Summary: Sequel to So Close, Yet So Far. Allen and Lavi are finally together, but Allen was forced to move away with his uncle to start a new life halfway across the country. On top of that, miscommunications and other obstacles make things even rockier than they already are. Can they manage to make their relationship work, or will it crumble? AU. Laven. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**[Note from the Author: Hello~ I'm baack~ Welcome to the sequel of **_**So Close Yet So Far: Distant Hearts**_**~ I am really excited to write this. I have had it in my mind since about April I believe. And I didn't even finish SCYSF until July ^^; **

**Anyway, I don't really have much more to say other than I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**I do not own D. Gray-Man in any way, shape or form. This fic is completely fanmade and I am not making any sort of profit off it. **

**Happy Readings!**

~Kumori] 

Chapter One

_Sunday, January 22nd, 2012_

_ Dear Lavi, _

_ Hey. I decided that I wanted to write you letters by hand as a sort of journal thing. I don't really know if I'll send the notebook I'm writing them in or not, but I guess we'll see. _

_ Anyway, it's been a week since I left Missouri and moved in with Uncle Neah. Things are going pretty well so far. The past week I've mostly unpacked my things and learned about my uncle's schedule. As it turns out, he is a social worker and a part time music teacher. He had asked me to help him out with teaching kids how to play the piano. I was paired with a small boy named Timothy. He's nine and is pretty out there, but he's a good kid. He is pretty good on the piano. _

_ Well, I start school tomorrow. Uncle Neah says that it is a pretty strict private school. It's called Noah's Arc Academy. The only other school here is the public school Helveska High, but Uncle Neah says that it is a bad place and all the students there are into drugs and such. I think he is just exaggerating, but I don't question him (out loud anyway). _

_ Timcanpy is really liking it here. He also likes Uncle Neah. I took him to the beach (which we live only a two minute walking distance from!) and he loved it. He flew around happily and tried to eat a seagull. Heh, it was entertaining. _

_ It's almost midnight. I guess I should go to sleep so I can be rested up for school tomorrow. Good night, Lavi. I'll write again soon. _

_ Allen_

Allen put down his pen and sighed. He wished that he could write more, but he knew that he really should go to sleep. The problem was that he really missed Lavi. So much that he still cried when Neah wasn't around.

Now that he was in Oregon, there was a two hour time difference from Lavi. That made talking to him a little more difficult. Lavi wasn't out of school until two o'clock his time, but since Lavi was studying hard to graduate this year (which Allen honestly didn't think he would accomplish. Not that he didn't believe in the red-head, but who can make up four years of screwing around in just a few months?) he usually wasn't ready to text until eight o'clock Missouri time. The problem with that was at six o'clock Oregon time, Neah would make dinner and him being the occasional strict guardian he is, banned texting until after dinner and all chores were done. So by the time that all is done, it's about seven thirty Oregon time, making it nine thirty Missouri time when Lavi would go to bed.

Allen closed his new notebook and placed it on his desk and crossed the room to his CD player. Neah was on the bottom floor, so he wouldn't have to worry about waking him up as long as he kept his music quiet. He flipped through his CD's and decided on his Punk Goes Pop Volume Two. He put the CD in the player, turned the volume down and hit shuffle. "I Kissed A Girl" by ATTACK ATTACK played. Allen bobbed his head to the beat and made his way back to his bed.

Allen buried himself into his blankets and was about to close his eyes when he caught sight of his cellphone on the charger on his bedside table. He reached over and unhooked it from the chord and opened the inbox. He knew that he wouldn't have any new messages, but it had become a habit to check anyway.

Nope, nothing new. The last message he had got was almost five hours ago.

**7:49 pm: hey. srry but i shuld be gettin to sleep. ill txt u tmrrw. good luk in ur new skool. love u.**

Allen smiled as he reread the text for the fifth time. He and Lavi didn't get to talk much except at Lavi's lunch break, but the red-head always sent him texts as soon as he woke up and just before he went to bed. Yes, it was a cliché among teen relationships, but it was adorable in Allen's eyes.

He read over the text one last time before he put the phone back on his table and burrowed his face into his cool feather pillow. He closed his eyes and listened to The Cab's cover of "Disturbia" until he finally fell asleep.

"_Bum, bum, be dum, bum, bum, be dum, dum. Bum, bum, be dum, bum, bum, be dum, dum..." _

*.*.*.*

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep! _

Allen growled sleepily as he slammed his palm on the snooze button. It was pitch black outside and his room felt like fucking Antarctica. He threw his comforter over his head and curled into a small ball, trying to warm his ice cold hands with his breath. Sure, he liked the cold, but this was nuts!

As he was hiding in his cocoon, the door swung open and his light was flipped on. "Good morning, little nephew!" Neah said enthusiastically. "It's time to wake up for school!"

Allen groaned. "It's too early..." he whined.

"Now, now, it's not that early. It's only five thirty in the morning."

Allen sat up quickly, but regretted it when his warm blanket fell off of his body, leaving his bare chest open to the cool air. "Five thirty? Are you insane? Why are you already so awake at this time?"

"Because the early bird gets the worm, m'boy," Neah said with a grin.

"Wh-what worm?" Allen asked through chattering teeth. He picked up his comforter once again and tried to cover himself with it, but it was too late. All the body heat that had been stored inside of it before was gone.

Neah chuckled. "Come on, Allen. You should know that expression. It just means that those who rise early reap the benefits."

Allen grumbled. "Screw benefits, I'm going back to sleep." He threw his comforter over his head and grumbled, willing himself back to sleep.

Neah made a _tsk, tsk_ noise before he took hold of Allen's blanket and ripped it off of him. Allen yelped and shot up, grabbing for the blanket uselessly, making Neah laugh. "Sorry, Allen. But this is the time I wake up in the mornings and I want you to be up too. Now you have plenty of time to shower before you have to walk to school."

Allen groaned and fell back onto his pillow. "But it's too damn early!" he complained once more.

"I don't want you using that tone with me," Neah said as he raised an eyebrow. "I know that Mana taught you differently."

Allen let out a loud sigh. "Fine, I'm sorry. Now would you kindly step out of my room so I may drag myself to the bathroom and shower?"

"Certainly," Neah said with a smile. He walked out of his nephew's room and closed the door behind him.

Allen closed his eyes for a moment. Even though he was sitting up, shirtless in his cold ass room, when he closed his eyes for just the shortest second, it felt like he was back in dreamland. Back where he was with his friends, he didn't have to go to school, Mana was still alive, and Lavi was by his side. Ah. If only he could always be there...

"Allen! My next step is the ice water!" Neah yelled from outside his door.

That made Allen jump. Once when he was eight, Neah had tried to wake him up, but Allen refused. Not having any other way to wake him up, he had walked into the kitchen, filled a glass with ice cubes and cold water, then being the extremely nice and loving uncle he was, he walked over to Allen and dumped the entire thing on the poor boy's face. Ever since, Allen would always wake up when threatened with ice water. It was the most unpleasant way to wake up there was!

Allen scrambled to his dresser and pulled out his school clothes. Unfortunately, the school required uniforms. If being told that he was going to a private school wasn't enough to make him want to drop out, being presented with a uniform was. There were black dress slacks, a white long sleeve button up shirt, and a black jacket with green and yellow striped accents around the edges. On the right breast was the school's emblem with NA written in curvy golden letters. It looked so snobby and upper-crusty to Allen, but he knew that there was no other option. He had to wear the uniform if he was to attend this school and make his uncle happy. With a sigh, he held his clothes and went into the bathroom to shower.

*.*.*.*

Roughly an hour later, Allen was sitting at his dining room table stirring a cup of coffee and poking at a plate of croissants that Neah had given him. He squirmed a bit in his new stiff clothes, still trying to get used to the feeling of them.

"Allen, you're not eating. That means something is the matter. What's wrong?" Neah asked, sliding into the chair beside him.

"I'm just nervous about school, that's all," Allen said. "Well, that and I miss Lavi, but you already knew that."

"That I did," Neah replied. "But about school, what is it that is making you so nervous?"

"For one, I'm going to have to be around new people," Allen grumbled.

"I know that you don't like the idea of meeting new people, but the reason that you even moved out here was so that you would be able to start over, remember?" Neah reminded him. "Back at Black Order High, you were being treated like dirt. Lower than dirt, really."

Allen nodded. It was true. Back at Black Order High, he was called names, shoved into lockers, and even bullied to the point where the entire student body was pelting him with school lunches. In fact, Lavi's boyfriend at the time Tyki had beaten him to a pulp once, and then stabbed him before setting him on fire on a different occasion. That was really the tipping point that made Neah take him to Oregon.

Neah ruffled Allen's hair and smiled. "It'll be okay. I'm sure you will get used to Noah's Arc Academy soon enough."

Allen grumbled and took a bite of his croissant. "I don't want to, though."

"Stop being such a moody teenager," Neah said in a light tone. "Don't be stereotypical."

Allen chuckled a bit. "There is nothing about me that is stereotypical," he said.

"Exactly, so let's keep it that way. Now hurry up and devour those like I know you can. You need to start walking to school in about five minutes."

With a sigh, Allen started to shovel his croissants into his mouth. In no more than two minutes, the entire plate of bread was empty. He gulped down his warm coffee quickly and stood up. He crossed to the entryway and picked up his black coat and bag. He slipped on his gloves and wrapped his gray scarf around his neck. It felt like it was fifty below outside, so Allen wanted to be as warm as he could be. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and looked at the time on his phone. It was six thirty five, the time when Neah told him he would have to leave.

He gulped and tried to slow his thrumming heart. _It's just school, Allen, _he tried to tell himself. _It's not like you've never gone to school before. _Taking a deep breath, he looked over his shoulder and called to Neah, "I'm off, Uncle Neah!"

"Good luck, my little nephew!" Neah called back.

Allen rolled his eyes and stepped out of the house into the cold winter. He walked to the end of his street, then turned to his left going up another street. He was following the route that Neah had planned out for him and had taken him on the day before. Snow and ice crunched beneath his feet as he climbed up the long uphill street. He marveled the houses as he walked by, just as he had when he first drove down this street when he first moved in. He still couldn't understand why there were so many houses that were so big. Neah had said that a majority of them were occupied by tourists in the summer, but it still boggled Allen's mind as to why people would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house that they would only spend a month or two in. _That's rich people logic_, Allen thought bitterly.

As he continued his trek, he rubbed his hands together, already freezing. He reached his hands into his coat pocket. He felt something hard in his right pocket. Curious, he gripped it and pulled it out. In his hand he held his present from Lavi and his pet, Timcanpy.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Allen asked the golem. "I already told you that I couldn't bring you to school. What if they try to take you away?"

Timcanpy just nuzzled against Allen's thumb and purred in response. Allen smiled and pet Timcanpy's head with his thumb. He knew that Timcanpy had become really attached to him since they moved to Oregon. Seeing as Allen didn't have anyone other than him and Neah to be with.

"Fine, you can come with me, but you need to stay in my pocket until I say you can come out, got it?"

Timcanpy made a happy growl sound before unfurling his small wings and flew up to Allen's face, nuzzling himself into his owner's cheek.

"Alright, alright, you're welcome," Allen said. He took his pet back into his hands and scratched his head as he continued to walk up the tall hill. The concrete was slick with black slush, but Allen made sure to be careful with every step that he took so he would not fall.

Once he finally made it to the top of the hill, he found himself at a highway. This highway ran all the way through the town. Actually, it ran all the way from the bottom of California to the top of Washington. Neah had informed him to be weary on the highway in the summer, because the tourists were ruthless and paid no heed to pedestrians.

Allen walked along the highway, passing by small tourist shops and a couple coffee shops. Most of the buildings were closed, being only six fifty in the morning. Looking closer at the buildings, Allen noticed that they weren't in that great of condition. The metal sidings were stained with rust from the almost constant stormy weather. The doors were cracked and peeling paint could be seen. Allen cringed slightly. He was from the big city where presentation was key. After all, tourists were more likely to want to go where the buildings were clean and pretty, rather than a rust stained shack looking place. This small town was seriously going to take some getting used to...

Allen stopped at the traffic light and hit the button to cross. He waited patiently for the light to turn white and crossed the highway, hands jammed in his pockets and head down, trying his best to not look at the cars he was passing in front of. He could feel their eyes on him. Like always, he could feel his body go cold (but not from the weather) and his eyes automatically went to the ground. Just like always.

Once the seemingly never ending cross, he picked his head back up and started up the next hill. This time, it wasn't as steep or long. At the top of the hill, he was at the school. It looked small and simple. The usual bricked walls, black double doors and American flag dangling weakly from a pole in the front. Cars were pulling up to the curb and kids were climbing out. With a sigh, Allen started towards the front doors.

He stepped into the school, and after only being there for three seconds, knew that he was going to hate this place. Everyone looked the same. The damned uniforms made all the students blend together. Allen sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You, delinquent," a harsh voice growled from behind him.

Allen inwardly rolled his eyes. _Nice, I've only been here a minute and I have already been dubbed a trouble maker, _he thought. He spun around to see who had addressed him.

It was a tall man who made Allen immediately think of Hitler. The man had a Hitler style mustache, his black hair was slicked back, and his eyes were narrowed angrily at Allen. His uniform was like his, only his had a letter L. stitched onto the left breast. Allen looked for any sign of a swastika, but all he saw was the same emblem that he wore on his own uniform. Even though this guy gave him a bad feeling, he smiled politely.

"Were you talking to me, sir?" he asked in his sweetest tone.

"Of course I was talking to you," the man practically barked, making Allen flinch. "Who do you think you are? Coming in here and disgracing us by wearing our uniform?"

Allen gulped. "I am a student here," he tried to explain. "My uncle enrolled me last week."

The man glared at Allen. It took all of Allen's self control to not shrink back from the chilling, killer stare. "We do not allow hair dye," he growled, pointing to Allen's hair. "Nor do we permit tattoos," he said, jamming a finger so close to Allen's left eye, he had thought that it was going to be poked out.

"Um, I don't have a tattoo, and I don't dye my hair," Allen said quickly. "This is a scar and I can assure you that this is my natural hair color."

The man growled again and opened his mouth to say something, but someone else spoke up instead. "Leverrier, that is enough."

Allen turned to his right to see a man with long white hair and a tired looking face approach them. He wore the same uniform as Hit- er, Leverrier, so Allen figured that he was a higher up. On his jacket, there was a letter Y.

The old man turned to Allen and smiled. "I assume that you are Allen?"

Allen nodded. "Yes, sir," he replied politely, thankful that he had come when he had. He was starting to think that Hitler was going to incinerate him with his glare.

The man smiled. "Hello. I am Mr. Yeeger. I am the principal here. And that is Mr. Leverrier, my vice principal."

At that very moment, Allen decided that he didn't want to get sent to the principle's office. _Ever._

"So, Allen. Would you like me to give you the grand tour of Noah's Arc Academy?" Mr. Yeeger asked with an enthusiastic smile.

Allen nodded, not wanting to deny his hospitality. He had already made enemies with Hitler, he didn't need another one.

Yeeger smiled again. "Alright then, follow me!" he said cheerfully and started down the hall.

Allen jogged to catch up. Even as he moved, he could feel the icy glare of Hitler on his back. He shivered. _I want to go home... _

Just as he thought this, his right pocket began to vibrate. He quickly whipped out his phone, ready to ignore the text message until he saw who it was from.

** 7:12 am: good mornin. gud luck on ur 1st day of skool. luv ya n tlk 2 u l8r. **

Allen smiled as he read the text. Lavi remembered that he was starting school today. He quickly sent a reply, jammed his phone back into his pocket and ran off to catch up with Yeeger.

_ 7:14 am: Thank you. Have a good day, Lavi. Love ya._

**[Note from the Author: So there it is ^^ This chapter is more of an introduction than anything. Next chapter will be more interesting and such. And we'll get to hear from Lavi ^^ I hate when he gets left out too long because he is already left out of the manga a lot u.u Poor, poor bunny. **

**Since I'm on the topic of the manga, I want to say this: I swear to God, if the writer of D. Gray-Man kills off Lavi, I will stop being a fan of this series! No joke. DGM just won't be DGM to me without our lovable bunny *lip quiver* (Can y'all tell I'm a Lavi fangirl? XD)**

**Well, that's all for now. I'm off to listen to some more Bon Jovi~! :D I've been addicted to his music for awhile.**

**Until Next Time! **

**~Kumori]**


	2. Author's Note (Not a hiatus notice!)

**[Note from the Author: Ehehe... Hey, guys... Been awhile, hasn't it?**

**Okay, first thing's first: I AM SO SORRY! I have been a horrible author and haven't updated in... I don't even know how long anymore... Wow. I suck. **

**What happened was I fell out of the DGM fandom near the beginning of summer last year. I managed to come back in time for Laven Week, but that wasn't really all that good. I am starting to like the anime again, and it made me realize... I still have three ongoing DGM stories that haven't been updated in God knows how long ;~; I am sorry. **

**I will tell you this, though. Now that I am starting to get back into DGM, I have every intention of finishing my stories. I have at least 3/4 of Distant Hearts done. (I have for a few months now, I just haven't been able to finish...) Little Lavi on the other hand, I have my work cut out for that one. I haven't had any clue of how to finish it in about a year I think. Hopefully I will figure something out. As for the 100 Theme Challenge, that's kinda on the back burner for the time being. **

**Anyway, I am really sorry. I will do my best to update when I can. With my new job and all, I will have to see when I can make time for it. **

**I appreciate all the reviews thus far, and thank you for those who left me one even though I have been slacking. Thanks, everyone. I hope I can make up for it by posting really soon :D**

**That's about it. If anyone has any ideas that could help me out with my stories, that would totally be appreciated. **

**I'll be back. *said in Terminator voice***

**Until Next Time!**

**~Kumori]**


	3. Chapter 2

**[Note from the Author:**

**Well. Hello there, strangers. Its been awhile, hasn't it? I'm sorry for being such a loser and not updating. I have been trying to figure out how to continue this for months. Seriously, I would get in a sentence, and then I would give up because I was lost. Sorry!**

**So yeah, to those of you out there still following this, here ya go. Please don't hate me too much.**

**I do not own D. Gray-Man in any way, shape, or form. This story is completely fanmade and I am not making any sort of profit off it.**

**Happy Readings!**

**~Kumori]**

Chapter Two

Allen continued to follow Mr. Yeeger. He had to practically jog to keep up with the older man's strides.

"Here at Noah's Arc Academy, we expect nothing less than the very best from our students," Mr. Yeeger began. Unfortunately, that was all Allen was able to hear before his mind was elsewhere.

Allen tried to listen to the elder man, he really did, but he was distracted by his surroundings. The school was very well furnished and it surprised Allen that such a nice place was located in such a dingy town. The ceiling was tall and the walls wide apart, making Allen feel quite small (even more than the 'beansprout' usually did). The walls were plastered with elegant gray wallpaper with golden specks on it. The floor was white tile that was polished so much that Allen could see his reflection in it as he walked along.

As Allen continued to marvel his new school, the principal kept droning on as they reached a classroom. "And here we are at your first class: Bible Study."

That snapped Allen out of his thoughts. "Bible Study?" Had he heard right?

"Yes, Bible Study. It is one of the core classes here at Noah's Arc Academy, one of the top Catholic schools here on the Oregon coast."

Allen bit his tongue to hold back a scream. _A Catholic school?!_ Neah was going to have some serious explaining to do! It's not that he necessarily had anything against the Catholic religion, but he didn't want to attend a school that revolved around it! There were multiple reasons for this. The biggest one being that he just so happens to be dating another male right now. Isn't that something that the Catholics frown upon? Homosexuality was seen as a sin, right? So here he would not only have to worry about students finding out about his arm, but also his sexuality.

_Great. Fantastic. Might as well just wear a sign on my head that says, 'Bully me!',_ Allen thinks grudgingly.

"Well, your class begins in five minutes," Mr. Yeeger says, looking at his watch. "I will leave you here to continue on to your class, but I hope that if you have any other questions or get lost that you will not hesitate to come find me or ask another teacher for assistance."

"I won't, sir," Allen says with his usual polite tone. Even if he really hated his current situation, he would not take it out on the principal who was only trying to be nice to him.

"Good." Mr. Yeeger smiles and holds out a hand to shake. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Allen."

Allen takes his hand to shake and says, "It was nice to meet you too, sir."

The principal seems to like Allen's good manners and nods in approvement. After retracting his hand, he wishes his newest student a good day and walks back towards the office.

Once alone, Allen sighs. He looks at the door leading into Bible Study with distaste. Did he really have to go in there? Can't he just go home and ask his uncle to be transferred to Helveska High? But he knew that if he skipped, Neah would definitely be upset.

With a final sigh, Allen reaches for the door and opens it to reveal his new homeroom. Like any other classroom, it is filled with about seven rows of desks with five desks in each row. The rows looked about half full since most students did not seem to be in all that much of a rush to get to class. There is a chalkboard in the front of the room and the teacher's desk is right in front of that. Not much different than the classrooms back in Missouri. The biggest difference is the posters on the walls. Rather than the usual posters about turning in homework on time or the importance of learning, there are posters with what looks to be bible quotes on them. "I can do all things through him who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13" and other small verses surrounded him.

"Hey, you," a voice called from Allen's immediate right, snapping him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a pretty pale girl with blonde hair. She wore the same school uniform as his, but instead of wearing pants she wore a skirt to just above her knees. She had multiple bracelets sticking out of her sleeves, mostly silver chains. She had bandages over one of her eyes, but the other was a deep, icy blue. With the absence of one of her eyes, Allen automatically thought of Lavi. The girl patted the empty seat next to her, as if gesturing for him to sit by her.

"Me?" Allen asked, making sure that she was talking to the right person.

"Of course you. Are you new?"

Allen nodded his head and made his way to the empty desk on her right. "Er, yeah. Today is my first day." He sat in the seat and set his backpack beside his desk. She was sitting in the front row, so this put him in the front as well. He usually tried to avoid the front row at all costs, but he didn't want to be rude and not accept her offer to sit next to her.

The girl smiled. "I see. Well, welcome to Noah's Arc Academy then. I'm Lala." She held a hand out to shake, her multiple bracelets jingled and glimmered in the light.

Allen returned the smile and took hold of her hand with his gloved one. "Hello, Lala. I'm Allen Walker. Its good to meet you."

"Allen Walker, huh? Nice name. So where do you come from, Allen?" Lala inquired curiously as she retracted her hand before using it to prop her head up off of her desk.

"Missouri. Kansas City to be more precise."

She let out a low whistle. "That's halfway across the country. Must've been one heck of a move."

"Heh, that's for sure." Allen was starting to feel a bit more comfortable now that he had someone to talk to. Now if only there was a way he wouldn't have to run into Mr. Hitler again, things would be just peachy keen.

"So what brings a city kid like yourself all the way out here to the west coast?" Lala asked.

Allen thought of how to answer that question. He could always just say it how it was, but he had a feeling that if he said, 'Oh, I moved out here because half of the student body at my old school was convinced I was a mutant and was almost killed for being in love with my boyfriend,' wouldn't sit too well. He decided to go with a much less complicated approach.

"I moved in with my uncle." Simple. Clean. Nice.

"Oh, something happen with your parents?" Wow, this girl sure was inquisitive. No matter, Allen figured that she was trying to make conversation.

"Actually, I never knew my parents. I was taken in by my adoptive father when I was six, but he died. I was living with my godfather, but I moved in with my uncle."

"Sounds stressful."

"A bit, yeah," Allen admitted.

Lala smiled. "I don't know my dad either, and my mom is in prison. So I know what it's like to live with other relatives."

Allen decided right then that he would probably grow to like Lala. She was nice and didn't seem to be all that judgemental - seeing as she had invited him to sit next to her despite his white hair and scar.

Lala opened her mouth to speak, but the bell rang. At the same time, the teacher walked into the classroom.

"Okay, class. Everyone take out their bibles so we can start today's bible study."

Allen watched as everyone around him began to pull out bibles from their bag and suddenly felt very out of place. He had never really been one for relgion before. He wasn't an atheist like Lavi was, he had just never really had an interest in finding a religion that he would want to dedicate his time and prayers to.

As Allen was thinking of a way to explain to the teacher that he had come unprepared, someone nudged his arm. He turned to see Lala smiling at him.

"I can share my bible with you if you want," she offered as she held out a leather-bound bible.

"If it isn't too much trouble, that would be nice..." Allen muttered.

The blonde girl giggled. "Its fine, Allen."

The two spent the class together over a shared bible. Not exactly how Allen imagined he would meet new friends, but hey, it works right?

*.*.*.*

Allen sat at an empty table and pulled out his (first) lunch. Inside the plastic shopping bag that it was held in was a turkey sandwich, a pudding cup, two packages of fruit snacks, a rod of beef jerky, and a bag of skittles along with a two liter of mountain dew. Not the most nutritious of food, but it would be enough to keep his massive hunger down for the time being.

As Allen had went to chow down on his sandwich, his previously empty table was suddenly being occupied by a familiar blonde. Lala.

"Hey, Allen," she greets with a smile as she slides into the seat opposite of him.

"Oh, hey, Lala."

"Can I sit with ya?"

"Of course!" Allen quickly moved his possessions so there would be room for the blonde girl to sit. So far, the duo shared their first three classes. Bible Study, Global Studies and Chemistry. They had gotten to talking more and found that they rather enjoyed the other's company.

"So, Allen?"

"Mm?" the teen responded with his cheeks full of sandwich.

Lala smiled at his goofy response as she unwrapped her own lunch, something that looked like a tuna wrap. "What class do you have next?"

Allen swallowed his bite and pulled out his schedule. "Uh, Music Exploration."

Lala brightened immediately. "Really? Me too! What do you play?"

Allen was glad that Lala would be in yet another one of his classes. With any luck, she would have the same schedule as him for the whole day. That would be fantastic. "Uh, I mostly play piano. What about you?"

Lala shrugs. "I play the flute and violin, but I don't practice them all that much in that class. I mostly work with my voice. I am more of a singer than a musician."

"Oh? Are you in choir too?"

"Yup! Sixth period."

"What group are you in?" Allen asks.

"Soprano. I have one of the highest ranges in the choir," she says matter of factly.

Allen smiled. "You'll have to prove that to me."

"Challenge accepted!" Lala exclaimed, giving her new friend a thumbs up.

Allen opened his mouth to say something in response when he suddenly felt someone bump into him from the back.

"Oh, sorry," a male voice apologizes.

"Oi, Bak, watch yourself!" a female somewhere not far off scolds.

Allen turns around and finds himself looking at a blonde guy in a uniform just like his. But he wore a black beret and had his shoulder length blonde hair pulled back into a hair tie behind his head. He scratches the back of his head and looks towards the direction of the scolding voice. "No need to yell at me like you're my mother or something," he says jokingly.

"Heya, Bak!" Lala says with a big grin. Allen figures that by her reaction, the two must be friends.

Bak turns back to Lala. "Oh, hey. I was wondering where you were. Are you showing the new kid around?" he asks as he looks at Allen.

"Yup~ Allen, this is my buddy Bak Chang. Bak, this is Allen Walker, the new kid from Missouri," Lala introduces enthusiastically.

"Dang. That's pretty far, Sprout," Bak says as he sits by Lala.

The sprout in question's eye twitches. "I'm not a sprout, my name is Allen!" he defends quickly as a force of habit. Thanks to Lavi and BaKanda back home, he had grown used to being defensive about his height.

Bak smiled teasingly. "Woah, woah. I was only kidding with you, new kid."

"Oi, Bak! Quit ignoring me, you idiot?" the female voice from before yelled as a sudden blur of pink slammed into the blonde beside Allen, making him grunt from the impact. He had been tackled by a girl with pink hair who, like all other students in this school, wore the Noah's Arc Academy uniform. Though her sleeves were torn at the seams on the soldiers, leaving only thin white fringe in the sleeve's place. She also had a green U shape on her forehead. Allen half wondered how she can have pink hair and green markings when he was almost killed by Mr. Hitler for having natural white hair and a scar.

"I'm not ignoring you," he insists. "I'm just making conversation with the new kid."

"New kid?" The pinkette turns her head to look at Allen. Her dark magenta eyes scan him critically, taking in every little detail of him, making him feel rather uncomfortable. After about thirty seconds, she shrugs. "Meh. He seems decent."

"Er..." Allen doesn't know how to feel about this.

Lala smiled at her newest friend. "Don't worry, that's a good thing coming from her. Fo has issues with other people. Well, other people who aren't Bak anyway~" she says with a sing-song teasing voice.

"Shut up, Lucille," Fo grumbles, but only tightens her grip on Bak's shoulders.

Allen asks, "Lucille..?"

"It's my real name," Lala explains. "But it sounds so stiffy and I really don't like it. My grandpa started to call me Lala when I was five, and ever since, it just sort of stuck on me."

"Oh..."

Bak smiles. "Anyway, new kid, I'm Bak Chang. Junior. This is my friend Fo. She is a senior."

"Yo," Fo says, giving a small wave of her hand.

"It's nice to meet you guys. I am Allen Walker. I'm a freshman."

"You're a freshmeat? Really? How old are you?" Bak inquires.

"Sixteen." At the others' look of disbelief, he explains, "I started school late."

"You sure you weren't held back, Sprout?" Fo asks, laying her head on Bak's shoulder lazily. "You do strike me as the stupid type."

Before Allen can say anything back, Bak laughs. "Don't be offended. Insulting others is how Fo shows affection."

"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you~?" Lala asks. Allen starts to get the feeling that Bak and Fo have something between them that they are not admitting.

"Oh, be quiet," Bak says, rolling his eyes.

Just then, the bell rings, signaling that it is time for fourth period. Fo grumbles. "Bak, let's skip. I hate Economics."

"Skipping is never the answer, Fo," Bak says. By the tone of his voice, Allen guesses that this isn't the first time the duo have had this conversation.

"Don't care. So, the small gym in five?" she asks as she detaches herself from her friend and starts to walk off.

"Not like I have a choice, right?"

"Of course." And with that, Fo walks off, obviously expecting Bak to do as she said.

Bak sighs. "I guess I'll see you two later." With that, he stands up and slings his backpack over his shoulder and heads off to his own class, probably thinking up an excuse to get out of it so he can join Fo in the gym.

Once he is gone, Allen looks over at Lala. "So, are those two together?"

"Kind of. The two have been best friends since Bak was in kindergarten. In a small town like this, everyone knows everyone and most of the students in this school grew up with everyone else," Lala explains as she packs up her lunch box.

"I feel left out already," Allen mumbles.

"Don't. I have only been going here since I moved in with my grandfather a few years ago. I haven't known everyone here all that long." Lala stands up and smiles. "I was the new kid once, and I know how bad it is. That's why I figured you could use a friend on your first day~"

Allen smiles in appreciation. "Thanks a bunch, Lala." After throwing out his garbage, he looks to his new friend. "So, will you show me where the band room is?"

"Of course! Follow me~!" Lala grabbed Allen's gloved left hand and starts to tug him out of the cafeteria and towards the band room. As she does, Allen looks at his hand and wonders how she would react if she knew the secret that his glove concealed. _Would she be like the others at Black Order High? Would she brand me as a mutant and a monster?_

_Probably. That's why I will have to try and not get too attached_, Allen decides silently.

**[Note from Author: And there you have it. After almost a year, an actual update. *nod* The first half took me months, but the last half only took about two hours. Once I started writing seriously again, I kind of got back into the groove of it x'3 Oh, how I have missed updating. And it's actually on a Sunday! Look at that.**

**Anywho. I really think I can actually get back into updating again. Help motivate me with a review, dear reader? *puppy eyes* I promise it will help.**

**Whelp. Time to work on other projects. Sorry for this taking so long!**

**Until Next Time!**

**~Kumori]**


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